This blog post was reuploaded in August.

Who’s ready for their monthly dose of serotonin? I know I am.

Here’s the deal if you’re new here, or a reminder if you’re not: PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY GOOD AND NOT EVERYTHING IS BAD. WE SHOULD CELEBRATE THAT AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY.

Like now! After all my painstaking work rounding up the good news of the world, I figure this is as good a time as any.

• Scientists find evidence of potentially life-supporting materials on Mars
• Tropical butterfly species may be better equipped for rising temperatures
• Protecting Our Planet Challenge investing $200 million to help protect Brazil’s protected areas
• Global renewable energy could have its largest ever annual increase
• Trash can be turned into a material that can cut the environmental impact of concrete by a third
• New study reveals that moss absorbs 6x more CO2 than other plants
• A new report states that there’s a pathway to ending Aids by the turn of the decade
• Colombia’s deforestation rates plummet by 26% last year
• A white-tailed eagle chick was hatched recently on the Isle of Wight – the first in 240 years
• Plus, here in Kent, 10 hand-reared choughs will be released near Dover over the coming weeks – they have been extinct in the county for 200 years
• A coalition of UK conservation charities calls for party manifestos to include radical commitments to nature ahead of the next general election
• Scientists find vital missing ingredient for healthy vegan diet – algae
• Refugees who run a repair centre in Amsterdam and opening another in the UK
• Widely available lo-fi tech can help you grow vegetables anywhere, including the middle of a desert
• WHO and UN Children’s Fund have reported that 2.1 billion people have gained access to safely managed drinking water since 2000, while another 2 billion have access to safe sanitation in the same time
• Fears of a return to burning coal as an outcome of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been soothed with data suggesting that there has been “scant evidence” of a coal rebound
• Paris will be charging SUV drivers higher parking fees
• Run by Refashion, an initiative begins in France to offer rebates on clothing and shoe repairs to put the brakes on fast fashion
• A report commissioned by charity Libraries Connected reveals how libraries deliver add-on services like boosting literacy, battling loneliness and mental health issues etc. worth £3.4 billion a year
• London-based Gipsy Hill brewery created the world’s first offset-free, carbon negative pint
• Research suggests that improving soil could keep the world within the 1.5C heating target
• Belize has been certified malaria-free by WHO
• Thin plastic bags used for fruit and veg in supermarkets have been outlawed in New Zealand
• Netherlands finally amend law to recognise that sex without consent is rape
• Wimbledon relaxed its dress code for women; white-only outfits having caused distress for players on their periods for years
• Church of England break ties with fossil fuels and oil giants
• Sharing “deepfakes” will be criminalised in England and Wales under new changes to an online safety bill that cracks down on image-based sexual abuse
• Wales becomes the first UK nation to ban snares and glue traps to catch animals

Okay, don’t you feel better now? A little calmer?

Unclench your jaw, buddy. Relax your shoulders. Stop scowling. There. Not everything sucks, you know. Keep that in mind until next month when I’ll tell you again.

By Bethany Climpson, Sustainability Engagement Assistant